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FRANKLIN — Members of the nation’s
largest Civil War battlefield preservation
group will make the completion of a
proposed Battle of Franklin park on
Columbia Avenue a national preservation
cause.
Jim Lighthizer, president of the Washington,
D.C.-based Civil War Trust, said the group’
s 55,000 members will attempt to raise
$870,000 needed by Franklin’s Charge, a
local nonprofit, to buy a small retail space
and Domino’s Pizza take-out restaurant at
1221 to 1225 Columbia Ave.
That land is the final parcel needed to re-
create a 7-acre site where a cotton gin
once stood in Nov. 30, 1864, when Union
and Confederate troops collided in what
became one of the bloodiest days of
fighting in the war. Supporters of Franklin’s
Charge formally announced plans for this
park in October 2009.
“It is a national priority in terms of
battlefield preservation or, in this case,
reclamation,” said Lighthizer, who has
backed other Williamson County Civil War
preservation projects. “We look forward to
partnering to see that it is accomplished together,” said Ernie Bacon, immediate
past president of Franklin’s Charge.
The purchase got new momentum late last
year when Franklin’s Charge was awarded
a $960,000 grant from the state
Department of Transportation. However,
after years of discussion, Franklin’s Charge
and Domino’s Pizza site landowner Donnie
Cameron are still talking.
“We’re still in negotiations,” Cameron said.
“They’re part of the way home but not all
of the way.”
The biggest obstacle is an obvious one:
money
Passive Park
Bacon said the group needs approximately
$875,000 to close the deal and be able to
open the park, including a replica of the
cotton gin. No deadline has been set.
“What that will achieve is a passive park
with appropriate signage and trails relative
to the Battle of Franklin,” Bacon said.
To get that accomplished, Bacon said the
group will rely on the Civil War Trust.
Lighthizer said he believes Franklin’s
national prominence — and reclamation —
will give it traction, despite lingering
national economic travails.
“Everything they have set out to do, they’ve
done,” Lighthizer said. “I have every
confidence that working with them we’ll be
Purchase of the small retail site has been
tantalizingly close for years, as land around
the restaurant has been slowly purchased.
Most notably, the city of Franklin spent
$300,000 in 2005 to buy a former Pizza
Hut restaurant at 1259 Columbia Ave. that
it converted into a small park after the
restaurant was torn down.
House to be removed soon
The Civil Wart Trust’s involvement comes
as crews this week prepare to begin
disassembling a house — known as the
Holt House — bought by Franklin’s Charge.
The Civil War Trust had helped Franklin’s
Charge pay down its $950,000 loan with a
$492,000 grant. Franklin’s Charge also
bought another nearby house, at 111
Cleburne St., for $199,000 and secured a
separate $99,500 national grant from the
American Battlefield Protection Program to
cover part of its cost. That home will
eventually be moved as well.
“The pieces of the puzzle are coming able to accomplish it.”
Bacon estimates that crews will begin
disassembling the Holt House and its new
owner, Elizabeth Spooner, will have it
reassembled on property on Lewisburg
Avenue in downtown Franklin.
Once the house is moved, the old house’s
basement will be filled in and its historic
foundation stones will be stacked and
stored.
largest Civil War battlefield preservation
group will make the completion of a
proposed Battle of Franklin park on
Columbia Avenue a national preservation
cause.
Jim Lighthizer, president of the Washington,
D.C.-based Civil War Trust, said the group’
s 55,000 members will attempt to raise
$870,000 needed by Franklin’s Charge, a
local nonprofit, to buy a small retail space
and Domino’s Pizza take-out restaurant at
1221 to 1225 Columbia Ave.
That land is the final parcel needed to re-
create a 7-acre site where a cotton gin
once stood in Nov. 30, 1864, when Union
and Confederate troops collided in what
became one of the bloodiest days of
fighting in the war. Supporters of Franklin’s
Charge formally announced plans for this
park in October 2009.
“It is a national priority in terms of
battlefield preservation or, in this case,
reclamation,” said Lighthizer, who has
backed other Williamson County Civil War
preservation projects. “We look forward to
partnering to see that it is accomplished together,” said Ernie Bacon, immediate
past president of Franklin’s Charge.
The purchase got new momentum late last
year when Franklin’s Charge was awarded
a $960,000 grant from the state
Department of Transportation. However,
after years of discussion, Franklin’s Charge
and Domino’s Pizza site landowner Donnie
Cameron are still talking.
“We’re still in negotiations,” Cameron said.
“They’re part of the way home but not all
of the way.”
The biggest obstacle is an obvious one:
money
Passive Park
Bacon said the group needs approximately
$875,000 to close the deal and be able to
open the park, including a replica of the
cotton gin. No deadline has been set.
“What that will achieve is a passive park
with appropriate signage and trails relative
to the Battle of Franklin,” Bacon said.
To get that accomplished, Bacon said the
group will rely on the Civil War Trust.
Lighthizer said he believes Franklin’s
national prominence — and reclamation —
will give it traction, despite lingering
national economic travails.
“Everything they have set out to do, they’ve
done,” Lighthizer said. “I have every
confidence that working with them we’ll be
Purchase of the small retail site has been
tantalizingly close for years, as land around
the restaurant has been slowly purchased.
Most notably, the city of Franklin spent
$300,000 in 2005 to buy a former Pizza
Hut restaurant at 1259 Columbia Ave. that
it converted into a small park after the
restaurant was torn down.
House to be removed soon
The Civil Wart Trust’s involvement comes
as crews this week prepare to begin
disassembling a house — known as the
Holt House — bought by Franklin’s Charge.
The Civil War Trust had helped Franklin’s
Charge pay down its $950,000 loan with a
$492,000 grant. Franklin’s Charge also
bought another nearby house, at 111
Cleburne St., for $199,000 and secured a
separate $99,500 national grant from the
American Battlefield Protection Program to
cover part of its cost. That home will
eventually be moved as well.
“The pieces of the puzzle are coming able to accomplish it.”
Bacon estimates that crews will begin
disassembling the Holt House and its new
owner, Elizabeth Spooner, will have it
reassembled on property on Lewisburg
Avenue in downtown Franklin.
Once the house is moved, the old house’s
basement will be filled in and its historic
foundation stones will be stacked and
stored.
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